Dark Nation
by Shadowheart51
Summary: Cloud and Genesis lives together with Dark Nation, the dog Rufus left to his little brother Cloud Strife. In the middle of the night something bad happens and it changes things for the three of them.


Bright amber eyes opened. Dark Nation knew something was wrong. The dog was sleek black with a long thick tentacle on her head. Dark Nation jumped off of the couch. She walked through the house. She then knew why she had woken up. Her owner, a pretty blond haired boy named Cloud was missing.

"Oh, where could he be?" DN thought to herself. She sniffed the floor. Her boy's scent let to the front door. It was open. She continued sniffing as she went outside.

A fresh layer of snow had settled on the ground. It was cold. If her owner Cloud was out there he would freeze to death. Seven minutes later she stopped at the edge of the treeline. Her ears perked up, listening for any sound or movement.

Dark Nation's blood suddenly ran cold at what could be heard. It was sobbing, pure chest wrecking sobs. Pushing herself into a lope DN broke the treeline, her eyes searching for the person making those noises. Looking out towards the frozen over river she felt her heart drop and blood freeze in her veins. Cloud was the source.

Turning back she ran at a dead run back through the forest and into the house again. Dark Nation scratched and barked at Genesis' door. "Genesis open up! Cloud needs you!" she barked, even though she knew Genesis wouldn't understand.

A second later the door was pulled open and DN was met with the bright glowing aqua eyes of Genesis. "DN? What's wrong? Is Cloud in trouble?" he asked the dog. Dark Nation barked again. "Alright, I'll follow you." Genesis said. The man followed the dog.

Dark Nation bolted for the fields once more. Reaching the figure in the snow she looked up. "Oh Cloud." whispered Genesis. Cloud was curled up on his left side, his body was pulled up into a fetal position, the sound of chest wrecking sobs could be heard through the fingers that covered his face. The snow was stained bright red around him; among the red were blood soaked black feathers.

Taking in a soft breath Genesis ran his bare fingers over the massive black mass extending out into the snow from Cloud's left shoulder. Silky black feathers were stained dark crimson with fresh blood, the skin around the juncture point in his shoulder was torn, red, and angry. Genesis slipped out of his jacket and gently pressed it against the wound, his other hand gently rubbed the young boy's arm. Dark Nation nuzzled Cloud's head. She was scared for her boy. Nothing would ever be the same for them.

"Come on DN. Let's get him home." Genesis said to Dark Nation. He then bent down to pick Cloud up. Feeling the arm wrapping around him Cloud slowly moved his hands from his face. The first thing to greet his eyes was bright auburn hair and a slick black head. "Gen. DN."

Hearing Cloud was talking to them Genesis pushed himself up and gave the young boy a small smile. "The snow can't be the best place to be lying down." Sitting back on his knees he gently pulled the jacket back slightly. The wound was still bleeding slightly but it had slowed down quite a bit, the skin was already starting to stitch back together in the area around the wing.

"Come on, let's get you out of the snow." Cloud hadn't said a word other than his and Dark Nation's name the entire time. Cloud's eyes were dull and vacant as he stared out in front of him. Finally Genesis picked the child up and headed for home. DN followed closely behind.

The walk back to Genesis' house was deadly silent, not even Cloud's sniffles could be heard anymore. Glancing down at the boy Genesis found he was fast asleep, no doubt from the blood loss and mental exhaustion.

Genesis gently set Cloud down on the bed pulling a pillow up behind him so he did not accidentally roll over onto his back and crush the new wing. Pulling the jacket away Genesis was happy to see that the blood had stopped and for the most part the skin around it was healed. Genesis placed another pillow against his stomach to prevent him from rolling.

* * *

It was about five o'clock in the morning when soft blue eyes opened. Cloud awoke in Genesis' room. The memories of last night hit him hard. Shifting back slightly he found his movements restricted by well placed thick pillows. Even with his limited movement he could see the giant black mass laying limply along the dark blue patchwork quilt behind him.

Fighting back a fresh wave of tears Cloud turned back only to find a black nose shoved up into his face. Blinking, he gingerly reached out and ran his fingers along the cat like head. "Hey DN." "Hello Cloud." Dark Nation thought. She was glad to finally have Cloud awake.

Purring loudly DN moved away and out into the living room, her long tentacle swishing back and forth as she trotted away. She didn't really have a tail so that tentacle on her head had a habit of acting as one, and it hurt if you were unluckily hit by it.

Hearing soft footsteps Cloud lifted his head slightly a very small smile crossing his features as a familiar shock of auburn hair poked into the door. "So you are awake." Genesis said. Dark Nation strutted past and hopped up onto the bed lying down at the foot as close to Cloud's feet as she could without pushing him out of his current position. Moving into the room Genesis sat down on the edge of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Genesis asked, pale blue eyes ringed in green flickered over the massive black appendage taking up the rest of the king size bed. Sighing Cloud laid his head back down willing the tears to go away once more. "I've been heck of a lot better, my back hurts."

Standing up Genesis walked around the bed. He took the wing in hand and started to force it to collapse to stretch clenching muscles. Cloud hissed as pain ripped down his back. "We'll get you better Cloud." whispered Genesis. Cloud nodded slightly, his fingers absently running over DN's head as she had moved to lie next to the young boy.

* * *

It had been five months since Cloud's wing had broken through and things had gotten better. Dark Nation trailed behind him as he walked through the forest. The black wing was luckily retractable. Cloud would retract it and the black mass would disappear into his back.

Dark Nation looked over at Cloud. "Cloud, where are you going?" she asked. Cloud, who could talk to animals looked back and replied, "The lake. Genesis said he would meet us there." DN nodded her head. "I hope he's not going to try to scare us again. You almost broke your wing the last time he did it."

Ten minutes later they emerged into the lake's clearing. Genesis could be seen lying on the ground only in swim trunks. DN raced over to him and excitedly lick his face. The man gasped and sputtered trying to get up. "Cloud, get this dog off me!" he yelled. "DN, get off of Gen. You scared him." Cloud said as he walked over to them.

Dark Nation stopped and sat down. "That was a priceless reaction, Cloud." Cloud gave her a look before helping Genesis up. "What did you want us for?" he asked. Genesis smiled and said "I can't just spend time with you? You're mean." "No I'm not!" Cloud retorted.

Genesis' grin widened mischievously. Cloud back up. Genesis playfully shoved Cloud into the water. He then jumped in after him. "Hey!" Water was splashed into Cloud's face. Cloud splashed the auburn haired man back. The two friends laughed.

Dark Nation watched them quietly. She knew things would be alright. New things were to come but they would get through them together.


End file.
